


Drawn From Stone

by IcyAndTheFrostBites



Series: Legends Never Die Duology [1]
Category: 3Below, Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro, Wizards (Fandom), trollhunters (cartoons)
Genre: (they will be posted at the top of every chapter), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Multiple Points of View, Trigger warnings (posted at the top of the chapters they are in), Updates Every Thursday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23564788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyAndTheFrostBites/pseuds/IcyAndTheFrostBites
Summary: Destiny is not an easy path to walk on. It twists and turns and merges and seems to disappear at odd times. It is always prevalent, however, in the darkest of times. And that dark time is coming soon.
Relationships: Canon Relationships - Relationship
Series: Legends Never Die Duology [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696117
Comments: 25
Kudos: 34





	1. Burned Toast and Bad Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was something I started working on back in... September of 2018. The first season of 3 Below hadn't even been released yet. We knew bits and pieces about it, but we didn't know much. I ended up having to rewrite A LOT of some of the earlier chapters because of this. (I could not predict how season 2 of 3 Below was going to end.)
> 
> I'm going to claim this as an AU. Particularly, a canon divergence. This is especially true as in this universe, it's taking Jim and the others about a year to get to New Jersey. (Which is actually how long it would take. I did the math. But, you know, magic is also a thing in the series that probably helped them in the show.)
> 
> This entire thing is completely planned out and the first book is almost complete. I decided to post it now, rather than wait too much longer. Hopefully, I'll have it all done soon so I can update every other day than once a week. (Every Thursday, I'm thinking.)
> 
> I'll stop jabbering so you can read. Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange happenings are... happening. The adventure starts!

“And ya burnt,” Detective Thomas Scott said to the eggs and toast he was making. They were, in fact, burned.

Darci scrunched up her face, chewing slowly on the almost soggy Frosted Flakes. 

“That’s,” she said, swallowing, “that’s not how that goes.”

“Eh, I never understood how your new fangled slang works.”

“Didn’t realize you were in your 60s already.”

“Ugh.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her little brother Darren join them in the kitchen. His princesses and fairies blanket trailing after him. He’d had it for as long as Darci could remember. “Who burned the toast?”

“Dad did,” Darci said, pointing an accusatory finger.

“I am not that old,” Detective Scott said, wagging the spatula at her, “and the toast was begging to be burned.”

Darci snorted as Darren joined her on the bar stools around the island counter.

“Do you want me to wash your blanket before school?” she said, pouring him a bowl of cereal.

“No,” he said. “Not enough time. Dad, toast isn’t toast unless it’s over a fire.”

“Did you just pun?” She slid the bowl over to him, the spoon tinkling against the ceramic. He was right, there wasn’t enough time to wash his blanket before school. She actually had to get going in a couple of minutes.

“Ashley H. has been teaching me. She’s really funny. Dee, I’d think you’d like her.”

“We’ll have a playdate soon.” She chugged the sweetened milk, wincing at the taste. She wiped her lip with her arm. “Dad, be sure to set that up with Ashley H.’s mom. Make sure he does it, little guy. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

She held out her fist for him to bump — which he did while loudly slurping the milk in the spoon. She laughed and gave him a kiss on the forehead. She dumped her dishes in the sink and swung around to hug her father.

“Be safe on the way to school, okay?” Detective Scott said. “There are trolls and goblins still lurking about.”

“They don’t come out during the day. They’ll turn to stone. Come on, dad. You know that.”

“Whatever you say. You’re the one dating the Trollhunter.”

“Actually, Jim’s the official Trollhunter. Toby is an honorary member, so is Claire. Huh. Wonder if that makes me and Mary members too? I’ll have to ask later.”

She gathered her things from their hooks in the laundry room, leaving through the garage. She was going to bike to school that morning — maybe meet up with Toby?

Normally she would have bit the inside of her cheek, but by herself? She allowed a little giggle to escape. They’d been dating for over a year now. Both of them missing their best friends. It had been… toxic for a little while, both of them going through some things while missing Jim and Claire. But they’d gotten back together soon enough.

It helped when Jim and Claire texted and FaceTimed whenever they could. It didn’t make it any easier for them, but the pain lessened over time.

And that was that.

Junior year was a pain in her behind (she’d actually ranted to Claire the last time they FaceTimed). There was all the SBAC prep they had to go through. Miss Janeth was mourning the loss of Jim and Claire (she’d wanted to do _Tuck Everlasting_ ). Coach Lawrence and the football team were actually winning — which meant she had to go on the away games as the Mole. She was also forced to go to any of the marching bands competitions — they’d actually won more trophies than she’d thought possible (more than the football team, anyway). Their new History teacher wasn’t as great as Strickler — of course their new History teacher was really just Coach Lawrence. She didn’t know how Spanish was going; she’d opted out of it. 

It all sucked. 

Claire had laughed at her, telling her not to worry about it. It was just high school, after all.

But Claire didn’t get it anymore. She’d gone off with the trolls and Jim and Merlin (she had **_so_ ** many questions). She’d gotten magical powers. Her boyfriend was part troll now. Claire wasn’t a regular student. She’d always been extraordinary, but now? 

Now — 

A car horn blared loudly at her as she halted from crossing the street. Shit. She hadn’t been paying attention. 

“Sorry,” she said, waving timidly at the driver in the blue sedan. The woman behind the wheel was dark skinned and fair haired. Her face was pinched, but she nodded. The boy — who looked about her age — was dark haired and freakishly pale. He looked completely uninterested.

The woman seemed to scoff at her, before slowly rolling away. Neither person in the vehicle looked back at her.

She shrugged it off. They must be new to Arcadia Oaks.

* * *

Whoever said life was like a box of chocolates should be punched in the face. With a chainsaw. That was on fire. Being wielded by a gorilla. Or, better yet, Draal.

Jim had had enough surprises for one year — the amulet, trolls existing, his mom on and off dating his ex-enemy-turned-almost-stepfather-but-he-wasn’t-absolutely-positive-about-that-yet-as-they-hadn’t-announced-an-engagement, Merlin existing (which meant King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table existed — he still needed to ask about that), Claire paying attention to him and agreeing to **_multiple_ **dates and being his girlfriend, being turned into a half-troll, everyone still loving him despite his monstrous appearance, everyone in Arcadian Oaks making a silent agreement to keep everything hush-hush, an adopted brother who was the original Walter Strickler (now named Willoughby Lake)...

There were a lot of things he omitted from that list. Like his new eating habit — yeah, he hunted and ate a rabbit and it was weird. (There was a lot of screaming involved and laughing on the behalf of his screaming. Claire thought it was cute, so that **_kind of_ ** made up for it. Until Toby found out and started making fun of him.) A lot of those things weren’t really important. They just sort of… existed at this point.

He was glad for the relative peace and quiet the journey across the US had brought. Well, there were a few hiccups along the way, but what journey didn’t have some? He was just glad it was almost over.

Claire and Merlin were gone for the day — restocking on necessities and holing up in a motel for the next few days, so Merlin could get his bearings. They were so close, he’d said, to the new Heartstone. All the energy was muddling with his senses, but he could feel it… on the other side of the mountains.

Jim was tired of mountains.

He was tired of walking. Maybe he could learn to slither along the ground…

“... the way, Master Jim?” Blinky said, pulling him from his thoughts. His mentor knew he wasn’t paying attention by the look on his face. Blinky sighed and rolled all of his eyes. The troll he was talking to — one Jim had seen at Trollmarket but had never a chance to talk to — gave him an empathetic smile.

The journey was wearing them all down.

“Sorry, Blinky,” Jim said, scratching the back of his neck. He gave them a bashful smile. “Can you repeat that?”

“I was asking if you were going to daydream the rest of the way, but I do believe you answered my question.” He clapped both pairs of hands. “Now, we need to ensure the safety of our camp. I presume you will be rejoining Fair Claire later?”

“Yeah, eventually. But you said yesterday that you wanted to teach me a few things.”

“Ah, yes,” Blinky said. “I needed some help with the whelps.”

“Whelps,” Jim said flatly, looking at the small cluster of young trolls playing together. They were like puppies, the way they played. It looked and sounded more vicious than it was, all rough and tumble and cries and yelps. But none of them actually got hurt. And it was sort of — read, **_obnoxiously_ ** — cute.

“They’ve been good so far, but I fear they may be getting anxious.”

“They’re **_whelps_ **. Of course they’re getting anxious.”

“Well, you’re a bit of a whelp yourself.”

Jim stopped in his tracks, not liking where this was going. 

“No,” he said.

“Why not? You’re young, they’re young. Besides, you’re the Trollhunter — they’ll listen to you!”

“Blinky.”

“James Lake, Jr.” They stared at one another for a long moment. Blinky turned away first, heaving a sigh. “I would appreciate the assistance. It’s not much, just… talk to them for a few minutes.”

“Fine,” Jim said, tossing his hands in the air. “But you’re going to have to do it eventually.”

Blinky gave a scoff, though he could see the playful glint in his eyes. He gently bumped his mentor with his shoulder and headed over to the whelps, who immediately perked up and crowded around him. A cacophony of voices rang up to greet him. He could barely catch one question.

“Alright, alright,” he said, finding any empty spot on the ground to sit on. “I know it’s been a long couple of… months, we all want to get to the new Heartstone.”

“Tell us a story!” one of the whelps said, pumping their fists in the air. The others rang out their voices in agreement.

“Okay. Um, what story would you like me to tell?”

“How you beat Bular the Vicious.”

“No no no. How you beat Angor Rot.” 

“Nuh-uh, how you and Lady Claire met.”

“Yuck. We want the defeat of Gunmar!”

“How about,” Jim said, interrupting the argument before a fist fight could break out, “I tell you about the time I got beat up by a gnome?”

 **_That_ ** piqued their interest. Their great Trollhunter was beat up by a gnome? The sheer audacity. The ridiculousness. Oh, they wanted to hear this story.

“Alright. Quiet down, now. I don’t want any interruptions.” The whelps giggled at that. A knowing smile pulled at his lips, curling around his tusks. “It happened around a year and a half ago. I was still a human back then…”

* * *

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, pressing his fingers harshly at the cartilage. He was either going to break his own nose or leave a rather nasty bruise.

“Okay,” Toby said, giving a deep sigh, “tell me again: What the hell did you guys do?”

Steve, Mary, and Krel all looked around shiftily. None of them were meeting his eyes. Not that he thought any of them would, guilty little sons of… Nevermind, that was incredibly rude to say or even think about calling someone’s friends.

Eventually, after he shifted his gaze back between all of them, he caught Mary’s eyes. She scowled at him and went back to her phone, tapping away on the screen as if nothing had happened. He reached out to take it from her, mostly to get her attention, but she slapped his hand away.

Krel’s human appearance fizzled out as he jumped in surprise.

Even after all this time, he **_still_ ** wasn’t used to the glowing form of Krel with his extra limbs. And that was after knowing of trolls for even longer. What was his life even?

The boys all groaned, knowing she had given them up. Normally, it would have been him, but lately… Lately, there was something going on with the remaining Creepslayer.

“Is joke, no?” Krel said, fiddling with her fingers. His eyes flitted nervously about. “Was told it was funny. Uhl did not like?”

“No, Señor Uhl did **_not_ ** like the joke. He didn’t think it was funny.” Toby tossed his hands in the air, exasperated. “What am I going to do with you guys? It’s our job to keep Arcadia safe. I rely on you guys to help me out. We work together, Trollhunters and Creepslayerz. You guys can’t run off and do stupid shit like this every time you get bored on a mission. What if something bad had happened? What then?”

When did he become the parental unit of the group? When had that happened? Ugh, he needed a vacation. For the rest of his life.

“You know what you need, my friend?” Krel said. He draped one arm over Toby’s shoulder and one… uncomfortably low on his back. He fought the urge to slip out of the Akaridian’s grip. “You need to, er, Mary, how do you say it? The laxing of chilling?”

“Chillax?” Mary said, cocking a brow as she looked up from her phone.

Toby wanted to bang his head against the wall. Or scream into the void somewhere.

He wished AAARRRGGHH!!! was with him. Instead, it was the middle of the afternoon. They **_should_ ** have been in school — well, technically he had a free period that he could have used to makeout with Darci in some dark corner of the school — but instead he was lecturing them.

He had to lecture them on **_not_ ** stealing a teacher’s vehicle because they couldn’t sit in class long enough to learn the history of the Trail of Tears as taught by Coach Lawrence.

(Actually, that was a godsend because why hadn’t they hired someone to replace Strickler yet? It was bordering stupidity at this point. He was going to have to attend a parent-teacher meeting and bring it up. Or make History a night class.)

“Yes,” Krel said, squeezing him tighter, “you need to chillax.”

“I’ll chillax,” Toby said, “when I’m given a reason to chillax. With the way things are going, I’m going to be bald or grey haired by the time I’m nineteen.”

“I don’t think that’s physically possible,” Mary said, halting when she saw the look on Toby’s face. She snorted and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“As much as I hate to admit it,” Steve said through clenched teeth, “the buttsnack’s right. We’re sort of the only defense this town has against any creepy crawlies. We really can’t run off every time.”

“So,” Krel said, combing his hands through his tall hair, “Uhl is not monster, no?”

“No, he’s not,” Toby said with a great huff.

“We have no proof of that,” Steve said, holding up a finger. Mary folded it down, covering Steve’s hand. Steve’s chipper expression dropped.

“And we have no proof that he’s not. For right now, Señor Uhl is human and we have to treat him as such.”

Toby looked at the three in front of him and sighed. He was already done with today, and first period wasn’t even done yet. He really should text Jim and Claire, see how they were doing. 

“Great,” Toby said, “now that we have all **_that_ ** sorted out, we can head back to school. I have… twenty minutes to find Darci and a dark corner. You guys, er, don’t… don’t blow anything up, okay? Or run out of the school again.”

“Just a quick question,” Krel said, stopping Toby with a hand.

“What.”

“How do we get the truck back to school?”

Toby sighed. 

“Steve can drive it, assuming he doesn’t crash this like he did Ms. Pepperjack’s van.”

“Oi!”


	2. Chocolate and Chatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire takes a bath and eats chocolate, Eli and Aja attend a boring meeting, and Barbara has some quality family time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's chapter 2! Like I said, updating on Tursdays.
> 
> Thank you for all the kudos so far. :D

The motel they’d stumbled upon sucked. She was fairly certain she’d seen it on one of those missing persons shows where the MIA child was found dead or on one of those terrible ghost hunting shows. Either way, it sucked.

The room smelled of mold and moth balls, sprayed with fresh linen and sea breeze and talcum powder. The blue and white striped wallpaper was yellowing and stained, peeling off the plaster behind it. The furniture was simple; mismatched and looked like it had all been bought on sale at Walmart.

The sheets on the bed were clean and free of any stains, though. The mattress was new, maybe only slept on a handful of times. And the curtains were more than capable of blocking out the sunlight. 

Everything in the bathroom worked. The water was hot and came out clear if you ran it for a minute. And the toilet looked like it had been installed sometime in the last century.

All in all, the motel wasn’t totally horrible – it just sucked aesthetically. She just had to wait a couple of hours before Jim could join her in sleeping on an actual bed for once.

Claire and Merlin had left the group to replenish some of the supplies that two humans would need to continue their travels. They had, thankfully, made it all the way to the Appalachian Mountains with little difficulty.

The “little difficulty” alluded to a small band of Gumm-Gumms in Utah that chased them through to Colorado, and a gang of Goblins they’d encountered south of Chicago in a place called Joliet. And a couple of nosy humans who wouldn’t leave her alone in Ohio.

They faced no difficulty getting the room at the motel, much to her surprise. Both she and Merlin had strode out of the forest like they’d owned it and stumbled into the office, practically demanding two rooms at seven in the morning. The robust woman behind the desk didn’t even bat an eye when Merlin slid gold — yes, actual gold — to her. 

She still wasn’t positive that he hadn’t pulled a Jedi mind trick on the woman.

After they’d secured their rooms, she had managed to get them a ride into town on a truck carrying pigs. The farmer dropped them off at a Target — not another Walmart, thank Deya — and she’d called her parents and Toby, letting them know how the group was doing before doing any shopping.

She helped Merlin pick out a few more modern pieces clothes for him, something he cared very little for. She found lots good clothes on the sales rack, piling them into the plastic red cart. (As well as sneaking in some new bras and underwear, hers were starting to go again.) They’d picked up food — chips and chocolate and candy and soda — and new water bottles, as well as a few new notebooks and tampons. 

She also convinced him to let her go through the hair and makeup section. 

Since they’d been on the road for almost eleven months, she’d given up quite a few things — deodorant for one, bathing daily, sleeping alone (Jim and NotEnrique were always right there), privacy, wearing makeup, and junk food.

Seeing as they were reaching their destination, it didn’t hurt to indulge a little. Which was why she bought a bath bomb that smelled a bit earthy and reminiscent of her Papa’s cologne. Merlin had rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.

She relished in the fact that her room had a bathtub in it. She was going to soak in the scented water, dammit, streaming Netflix until Jim could make it safely to her room — which wouldn’t be until around nine that night.

As soon as she and Merlin got back to the motel, she organized who’s things were whose as she prepared her bath.

“So wasteful,” Merlin said, scoffing at her as he gathered his plastic bags. “Reminds me of someone.”

He didn’t say who and she didn’t get the chance to ask. He was out the door before the mirror was fogged up.

The bath was wonderful and she made it through most of the newest season of  _ Nailed It _ (Barbara had gotten her into it) before the water had gone cold.

She slipped into a new pair of pajamas (lamenting the fact that she couldn’t wash them or any of her clothes properly) and waited. 

Outside wasn’t too bad, spring was ending and summer would be poking its head out soon enough. She enjoyed the fresh air coming in from the open window as she lied down on the bed.

She jolted awake, not realizing that she’d dozed off, at the knocking on her door. The sun was almost set, casting strange shadows of the rusting pole outside in through the window. Her heart hammered in her chest, seeing the striking figure at her door. 

He lifted his hood just a little, though she still couldn’t see his face due to the glare of the sun. A smaller figure popped up behind him, hanging onto his shoulder.

“You okay, sis?”

It was just Jim and NotEnrique.

She gave a little sigh of relief, unlocking the door for them. NotEnrique dove off Jim’s shoulder and headed straight for the pile of her dirty socks — the ones she’d worn holes into. 

Jim pulled her in for a hug, breathing her in. He gagged immediately.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think about the bath bomb or shampoo bothering you.”

“Not that,” he said, his voice a little raspy. She got him a glass of water, handing it to him. He took big gulps, wincing at the cold temperature. He gave the glass back to her, wiping the dribble from the stubble of his growing beard. 

“It’s not you or the soaps,” he said, his nose twitching. “Moth balls.”

He gave a few good sneezes and seemed to be done, if a little dazed. Moth balls were a troll deterrent, good to know.

“Yeah,” she said, scrunching her face up and looking around, “I knew it smelled bad in here. I should have warned you. Sorry.”

“I’ll be fine.” He looked around, inspecting the place. She knew he could see the protective charms she and Merlin had placed around her room.

“I kind of went overboard on the junk food. I might have… forgotten that I’m the only one who eats it anymore. Unless chocolate isn’t toxic to you?”

She wagged a candy bar at him, right under his nose. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as his eyes crossed, watching the colorful foil wrapped treat. He hadn’t had a candy bar in ages.

He swiped it from her and greedily opened it, sitting down on the bed while giving the chocolate a tentative sniff. She watched as he took a bite, his face slowly shifting into a grimace.

“That bad?” she said, deflating a little.

“No,” he said, taking another bite, “peanuts.”

She snorted and grabbed a bar for herself, flopping down next to him. For the first time in months, she allowed herself to relax. Just one month more, she told herself.

* * *

_ Are you bored? _

The words ticked across the screen in front of him. And it didn’t take a lot to figure out who sent it to him. Aja wasn’t exactly conspicuous. Her arched eyebrows were too high on her forehead and the tight purse of her lips was a tad more smug than bored. 

He quickly tapped out a discrete reply.

Barely a second later, Aja’s faux composure nearly crumbled and exposed them both.

Really, it was a serious meeting. One they both needed to pay attention to, however…

Eli turned his gaze to the frog-like Akaridian, raising his eyebrows and somewhat nodding along. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. It was made even more difficult but Aja’s next message — just a string of letters spelling out an incomprehensible word.

He carefully glanced back in her direction catching sight of Zadra and the frown on her face. He turned away and tried to focus, once again, on the subject matter at hand.

“...our scientists found in Sector 45,” the frog-like Akaridian said, making Eli sit up straighter.

He fought the urge to raise his hand to ask what he was talking about — it wasn’t a good sign when the Earthen Ambassador didn’t pay attention to important meetings. There were enough eyes on him already, he didn’t want any more.

(He made note to ask Zadra later.)

“Ambassador Elijah,” the frog-like Akaridian said, “this is your planet, what do you say we do?”

Eli paused for a moment, gathering in the curious look of those around him. Zadra didn’t look too happy about anything, so whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

“Well,” Eli said, standing and clearing his throat, “this is very… not good news.” He winced at his words. “I am open to suggestions on what we should do?”

Zadra gave a little nod.

The frog-like Akaridian was the first to speak up. (Eli should really learn his name, he decided.)

“We should eradicate all life from that sector, of course,” he said.

Eli opened his mouth to retort, but Aja beat him to it.

“You think we should blow up Earth?” she said, her voice far more snappish than Eli was used to. The feral scowl on her face sent a chill down his spine. “My brother — your  **_king-in-waiting_ ** — is on that planet. And you think we should destroy it?”

“We would retrieve him first, your Highness,” said another member of the council.

Aja slammed her fists on the table in front of her, making all of them — including Eli — jump.

“No. You will wait for  **_my orders_ ** before you do anything.”

She stomped off, pace rapid and loud. Eli quickly followed after her with Zadra bringing up the rear. It was a moment before anyone spoke.

“Who does he think he is?” Aja said, the words spitting hotter than lava out of her mouth. She looked ready to march back in and throttle the frog-like Akaridian.

“Your Chief Advisor,” Zadra said, lying a gentle hand on Aja’s shoulder. “He is trying to suggest what he thinks would be the best.”

“Best for what?” Eli said, frowning. “Killing all of our friends and family? My home?”

“What’s happening on your home planet is something very serious, Elijah. It is a possible threat to Akaridian-5 and everyone here, as well as you two.”

“What  **_is_ ** going on?” Aja said, her brow furrowing.

“Our scientists have picked up an abnormal energy spike on planet Earth,” Zadra said, looking between the two of them. “It has them all worried.”

“What kind of energy?” Eli said slowly.

“Nothing good. Come on. I will take you to someone who can explain.”

* * *

If anyone asked her a year ago how’d she be living her life, Barbara didn’t think she’d respond by saying that she’d be waking up next to a Changeling and be waiting for a text from her son who was on his way to New Jersey with a herd of Trolls and his girlfriend. Life was certainly…  **_interesting_ ** . At the very least, Walt made sure she ate because Jim was off on an adventure – which she didn’t plan for for a few more years, if she was being honest. 

Plus, she still had company – AAARRRGGHH!!! and Toby made sure to come by for a visit every day, as did the Nuñez family and Toby’s Nana usually checked in once or twice a week. And Walt lived with her now, so that was nice.

But she missed  **_Jim_ ** . He’d been all she’d had for so long. She didn’t know how to go a day without him. And yet, she’d gone ten, no  **_eleven_ ** , months without giving him a hug – she’d asked Claire and Blinky to do that, since she couldn’t. He texted her whenever he could, called her from time to time, and they’d video chatted several times. It wasn’t the same, though.

She wondered if she would ever see him again. Maybe she should just move to New Jersey – after she found out where the Heartstone was and if the hospital was hiring, of course.

She hadn’t been out that way since… since James. He’d take her out that way for their honeymoon.

Barbara still had his wedding ring. It was in the simple jewelry box Jim had painted for a Mother’s Day gift back in the fourth grade, as well as her own wedding ring. They were nice rings, original and unlike anything she’d ever seen before. She still wondered where he’d gotten them.

The arm draped about her waist pulled her closer, bringing her back to the present.

“You’re thinking,” the voice behind her said. His body was warm, not searing like the others she’d dated – not like James. “Mind telling me?”

She turned to look at the un-glamored face of Walt. She was as familiar to the green skin and yellow eyes – both rather unhealthy signs in a human but normal for a changeling or troll, as she’d come to learn and accept – as she had been to his human form.

“Sorry,” she said. “I… I was thinking about Jim’s father.”

“That is… understandable. I don’t believe we’ve had this talk yet. Who was he?”

She was rather taken aback by his blasé tone and posture. Perhaps she should be too. She hadn’t told any of her other partners about him – then again, she hadn’t been with them as long as she had been with Walt.

She didn’t get the chance, however. The shrill cry of the infant in the next room over alerted them to the needs of the quickly growing toddler – the real Walter Strickland, renames now as Willoughby. She’d named him Will.

“I’ll go get him,” Walt said, rolling over and getting out from under the blankets. “Bonding time is important.”

She wanted to laugh at that. Bonding between the changeling and the kidnapped child. It was weird, but she’d seen weirder.

Like what was going on with Eli and Steve and their two new friends – who were aliens. Yeah, aliens existed. It was… weird. First trolls and Merlin, now aliens.

She was beginning to wonder if Sunnydale had been based on Arcadian Oaks. Maybe she and Walt could rewatch  _ Buffy  _ and  _ Angel _ . She hadn’t done that since Jim was little.

She could hear him coo at the child through the open doors. She gave a smile and relaxed into the bed, not realizing she’d been so tense.

Her phone buzzed, alerting her to a text. She quickly sat up and unlocked it, checking the message.

It was from Claire.

_ Jim had a Mr. Goodbar and a couple of Hershey's bars.  _ __   
_ And then a frying pan from the garbage. _ _   
_ __ Your son is weird. :D

She’d attached a picture of Jim on a hotel bed, surrounded by at least a dozen candy wrappers with the wrought iron handle of what she supposed was the frying pan sticking out between his lips. He looked rather sheepish at the camera.

Walt came in, clearing his throat at the sight of her.

“Look,” she said, holding up the phone so he could see. “They had a little party last night.”

“Ah yes,” Walt said, bouncing Wally in his arms, “the follies of youth. I remember the first time I ate a frying pan from the garbage. I don’t recommend it. Tell Claire to tell him to try the kitchen instead.”

She laughed at that, quickly shooting off the prompted remark. She was given numerous emojis in return – she wasn’t sure what half of those even meant. Though a moment later, Jim sent her a text.

_ Tell Strickler that wasn’t funny. >:( _

She took Will from Walt and got out of bed so that he could make them breakfast. Neither of them trusted her in the kitchen. Unless it was pancakes. That was the only exception. And only on certain days.

She texted Jim and Claire – back and forth, sending them pics of her rather odd domestic life since they’d left – while Walt made French toast.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Walt said, checking the toast as it browned in the pan.

“I slept fine,” she said. “Why?”

“You were tossing and turning a lot. I think you hit me a couple of times. I might actually have bruises.”

“Sorry. I feel like I had the best sleep I’ve had since…” Since before Jim and Claire and the Trolls left.

“It’s fine. Maybe the room was too warm. I’ll turn down the temperature before we go to sleep tonight.”

“Maybe,” she said, gently taking Will’s hands before he could knock off the bowl off his high chair – a gift from the Nunez's. 

It wasn’t the truth though. She had had several bad dreams, but she couldn’t really remember what they were about. Just fire and screaming and the smell of burned flesh. She wasn’t sure what was worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be posted... next week Thursday.
> 
> Also, did you see the image leak of the Wizards poster? No?


	3. Strange Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire practices her magic, plans to leave Akiridion-5 are discussed, and Barbara goes to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later in the day than I intended to post (sorry!), but I got caught up in some missions for _Zombies, Run!_ and now I can't stop walking my dog.
> 
> By the end of this, she and I are going to have great endurance.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of blood and death at the end of the chapter.

Claire bit back a curse as the lock on the door flickered red at her. Had she put it near her cellphone? She couldn’t remember. It was, honestly, too early to be dealing with any of this. She had sent Jim and NotEnrique off about fifteen minutes ago. She hoped they made it back to the camp safely.

Speaking of safety, she hurried to the front desk, not wanting to be outside of very long. Something in the back of her mind told her to get near someone as soon as she could. 

The woman who had checked them in was behind the desk once again. She looked up, over the rims of her glasses with dull, gray eyes before looking back down at the glossy pages of some tabloid.

“Does your grandfather know you’re sneaking boys out of your room at odd hours?” she said.

“...Maybe,” Claire said, slowly. “But please don’t tell him.”

“He doesn’t know his teenage granddaughter is dating an older guy.”

“Oh, he knows Jim.” She tried to spit out a lie, but it hung on the back of her throat and refused to get out. So, she gave the truth – well, half-truth. “He might not like it, but he doesn’t hate him. Jim’s really good at baking and cooking. He’s the only one who can make my grandfather’s favorite rabbit stew.”

Okay, she might not have had a lot of Jim’s cooking before his transformation but there was little doubt in her mind that he could have become a world famous chef. Or become famous by going onto one of those cooking shows like _Hell’s Kitchen_ or something and winning. 

“We wanted to spend a little more time together is all,” she said, continuing. “My parents know, but my grandpa? He’s… just a little old fashioned. So, please don’t tell him?”

The woman – her name tag read ‘Lauren’ in bold, black letters – snorted and closed her tabloid. 

“Alright,” Lauren said, wagging a bony finger at her, “on one condition.”

“Er…”

“Just answer some of my questions.”

“Al… alright.”

“How long you been dating this guy?”

“A year and a half, I think. Maybe two years?” Were they dating before he went into the Darklands? She couldn’t really tell. “We’re the same age. He just had a growth spurt last year. It was… different.”

“How old are you?”

“Just turned seventeen a couple of weeks ago.”

“And you say his name is Jim?”

“Yeah. Well, James but we all call him Jim. He was named after his dad.”

The woman hummed, nodding.

“And you two are being careful? Using protection?”

Claire felt her face heat up. Okay, she needed to shut this down. Like, yesterday. She looked up at the woman between her lashes.

The woman was beaming.

“I’m just joking around,” Lauren said. “You seem like a smart kid. Don’t want you to get trapped in something you’ll regret.”

“Trust me,” she said, “Jim’s not one to trap anyone. He’s too nice a guy for that.”

Lauren just nodded.

“So,” she said, “what did you need?”

“My key.” Claire produced the piece of plastic from her – well, Jim’s – hoodie pocket. “I think I put it near my cell phone. Whoops.”

Lauren took the key and quickly re-magnetized it, holding it back out to her.

“Just be careful, alright?”

Whether or not she was talking about the key or Jim, Claire didn’t know. Still, she took the key and left without looking back. 

The room unlocked with ease this time round. She closed it behind her, setting the deadbolt into place and making sure the curtains were tightly sealed. Then, she kicked off her hiking boots – those might last another week or two – and slipped off her socks.

Looking around, she noted that the housekeepers had been inside. The bed was remade, the towels were fresh and stacked neatly in the little cabinet in the bathroom, the floor had been vacuumed. But her things had not been touched.

She had tried to keep her personal belongings tucked neatly into corners throughout the room. Her clothes, however, spilled out of the large backpack she’d gotten fairly early on in their journey. It was the remaining contents that interested her.

She undid the orange zipper and withdrew a heavy, worn book. The leather cover was cracked. The gold foil that had once created elaborate designs along its front and back was nearly all gone – she could no longer guess at what they might have been. 

In all honesty, the book should have been in a museum somewhere. But Merlin had pulled it out of… who knows where and handed it to her.

“For your magical studies,” he’d said, seeing her curious looks.

“Magical studies?” she’d said, slowly. She glanced between him, the book, Blinky, and Jim.

“Yes. You **_do_ ** plan on learning to control what that witch unlocked in you, correct?”

She hadn’t thought about it at that time – or much time before that – but it made perfect sense now. Morgana had done something to her mind, opened a part of her to a piece of the world that only a few had the briefest glimpse of.

Merlin had approved of her progress over the past couple of weeks, deeming her ready to study on her own. Now that she was past the primary basics of understanding the fundamentals of magic (or so Merlin said – she… wasn’t positive on that fact). Still, she wouldn’t deny that a lot of it was intuition.

Healing spells were easy for her, as were some summoning spells and a handful of gardening spells. Other things? Not so much.

Maybe she should go back and review the older sections?

Claire shrugged and opened the book up to where she left off. The strange language that was Old English stared up at her. She slipped the amulet off from around her neck, holding the glowing pink light up to the pages.

(The amulet had been an early project. Merlin had taught her to infuse a crystal with some of her magic. It would act not dissimilarly to Jim’s amulet when translating Trollish.)

The words on the pages wriggled and changed before her eyes, becoming English.

“Alright,” she said, scanning over the words, “what’s today’s lesson? ‘Feeling the Souls of Humans’. Hm. Sounds interesting.”

* * *

Izita’s quarters were close to his, so Eli wasn’t too surprised when Zadra led them there. He often seen her either entering or leaving — something he hadn’t really shared with Aja, but it was neither of their business. In his opinion. In Aja’s however…

“Where are we?” she said.

“Izita’s quarters,” Zadra said, her tone even. Eli noted how it was a tad bit warmer than normal.

“And why are we here?”

Zadra didn’t answer. She swiped her hand in front of the scanner. There was a soft beep and the door hissed open. She led the way in.

“Who’s… oh.” Izita was standing in what might have been the kitchen. When she saw Aja and him, her brow furrowed. “Zadra, Your Highness, Ambassador Eli. I take it this afternoon didn’t go well?”

“Mommy!” Davaros shot around whatever corner she’d been hiding behind and launched herself at Zadra.

“Mommy?” Aja and Eli said at the same time. The two of them glanced at each other and then back at Zadra, cradling Davaros.

“You never ask how I spend my time away,” Zadra said, “and I never explained.”

Again, Aja and Eli shared a glance. They both decided to shrug it off. It was Zadra’s personal life, after all. Well, at least Eli **_thought_ ** they would both shrug it off. Aja, it seems, had other plans.

“You didn’t tell me that you were married,” Aja said, her voice cracking.

“Not yet,” Izita said, walking over and taking Davaros from Zadra. “But we hope soon.”

“Izita,” Zadra said, “we will need the help of the Resistance.”

“The Resist… Zadra, what’s going on?”

“They’re planning on blowing up planet Earth.”

* * *

She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand, trying not to sway on her feet. She leaned against the desk of the nurses’ station. La’Wanda smiled up at her through droopy eyes. Barbara was fairly certain she looked exactly the same.

“Any news from Jim today?” La’Wanda said, handing over the folder with the information on one of the more stubborn patients.

“My phone’s back in my locker,” she said, drooping against the countertop. “He’s having fun, doing the cross-country trip.”

“Don’t know if I’d let my son and his girlfriend go off without me hanging around.”

“A family… friend is with them.” Her mind flicked to Blinky – who was more than capable of taking care of a half-troll teen. She hoped. “And, besides, Jim’s always been the responsible one between the two of us. If something does happen, he’s the type to step up.”

“Mm-hm. And his girl?”

“Claire? She graduated early. Could have been their class’s valedictorian, if she wanted.”

“Smart girls are known to make dumb decisions.”

“Yes, we do.” She smiled at La’Wanda, giving a little laugh. “Claire’s not just smart, though. She’d been fairly honest with me. Has been since before… everything.”

“She was one of the,” La’Wanda said, looking around to see if anyone was listening before continuing, “ **_volunteers_ ** who helped out during the storm, right?”

“Yes. She was right in the middle of it.” She was glad that La’Wanda was one of the few nurses who actually lived in Arcadia. Yolanda, who was known for being obscenely chatty, would have blurted everything within moments. Janice and Carrol weren’t much better. And the other doctors? They were just as bad. La’Wanda, though? Best nurse in the state, fabulous coworker, and had been working with her since she was a just little intern. She also knew the best sandwich shop that got Jim’s approval.

“So, tell me about her. Do you trust her?”

“Claire?” Barbara said, blinking at her. “Of course I trust her. I trust her with Jim’s life. She was the reason he auditioned for _Romeo and Juliet_ , you know.”

“You mentioned that he was in that. Romeo, right? She was his Juliet?”

“Yeah. It was the most beautiful and tragic thing. I don’t think I’ve even processed it after… it’s been a year since auditions. Jesus, where did the time go?”

“Kids grow up fast,” La’Wanda said. “My youngest just had her second child. My first granddaughter, if you can believe it.”

“Oooh, please tell me you have pictures.”

“You’re not hoping for grandbabies this early, are you?” La’Wanda said, looking away from her phone as she pulled up the pictures.

“I’m only thirty-nine!”

“I already had **_two_ ** grandchildren at thirty-nine.”

“La’Wanda.”

“Barbara.”

“Jim and I already had that talk – well before he left. He’s not ready for that step. Neither is Claire. They might have been forced to grow up too fast, but they both still recognize that they’re children. Now, come on, grandbaby pictures.”

The baby, was of course, covered in a fine layer lanugo, with horribly bulbous eyes and a squashed nose, but the video of her yawning had been the cutest thing she’d seen in a while.

La’Wanda had been paged away to check in on a patient. She was left alone, flipping through the folder. Her eyes weren’t picking up on the words scrawled across the pages.

This… wasn’t good. If she was this tired now, how was she going to be when she had to drive home? Maybe she could get one of the interning residents to take over for thirty minutes so she could squeeze in a quick nap.

There were four on duty…

No. She didn’t want to do that to them. They were good kids. She remembered the days of when she had to fight for her spot – back when James left her and Jim, and they were struggling to stay afloat. 

Besides, she was a tough cookie. She had worse hours before.

Actually, a cookie sounded nice. She wondered if the cafeteria had any.

She strolled down the halls, taking the quickest route to the belly of the hospital. She waved at nurses and attendings – and the occasional patient or family member – as she passed. No one stopped her to chat or to see where she was going, something she was grateful for.

She rounded a corner and was swallowed by darkness. She blinked and looked up. Just a moment ago, she could have sworn that the lights had been on. 

She turned around, expecting to see one of the nurses’ station and a brightly lit area. That, too, was dark.

Barbara took a shaky breath and slowly started down her initial route. She kept her hand on the wall, hand touching the wood railing some patients used to help them keep their balance.

In the split second her hand was off one, the bar broken to allow for a door, the wall turned to something cold and solid. Stone.

She tried to trace back, but it was gone.

Forwards, she told herself. Keep moving forwards.

After everything her family had been through during the course of a single year, whatever **_this_ ** was, she could handle it.

And then, a light appeared. Slowly at first, spotlighting her and then blinding her. She covered her eyes with her arm. In the split second she did so, the scene around her changed.

The air turned hot and choking, though the place was relatively dim comparison to the light. Something that smelled of burned hair and charred beef or fatty pork mixed with tangy copper. It was acrid and musty. 

She opened her eyes and looked around her.

She stood on a battlefield, surrounded by hundred of slaughtered bodies. No human remained perfectly whole. The dirt was stained red and turned to mud under her feet, clinging to her white shoes. Fires chewed at limbs from the deceased and at broken carts. 

Just to her right was a child, small with gaping blue eyes. And a face that she knew. She knew it so well.

She sank down to her knees, hand reaching to touch the cheek. Trembling fingers brushed cool skin that was beginning to turn wan and blue. 

Who would do this? Who **_could_ ** do this? To a child?

Who in their right mind would want to do this to him?

To her Jim?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fun begins!


	4. Bad News, Bad News, and Good News?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just... just news. Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What day is it? Thursday? The last day of April? It doesn't feel like the last day of April...
> 
> Again, I can't thank everyone enough for the kudos and for reading this. I hope this is as indulgent for you as it is for me.

He hated having to leave the hotel bed. It had been warm and comfortable and safe. Even through whatever detergent they used to wash the sheets, he could smell her from the little time she’d spent on them. He’d give anything to be able to go back and hold her to him again.

It was everything a nest should be. Wait, nest? He… he was going to have to ask Blinky about that later. That wasn’t, uh, something that was normal, right?  **_Right_ ** ?

Instead of being with her, he was forced to listen to the shrill screams of whelps who didn’t want to rest. No amount of bribes for another story or passing around the amulet could get them to sit still for more than a couple of minutes.

They were rowdy, he understood that. He just wished he had a better way to deal with rowdy children.

His hand hovered over his phone in the pocket of the new sweatpants Claire had bought for him. (Go, whatever high school team they supported, go!) He didn’t want to bother her. She was probably working on her magic lessons. 

Besides, he couldn’t interrupt that. She was the only one with any real magic. Deya knew Merlin wasn’t getting  **_his_ ** back any time soon.

His eyes scanned around the cave they had holed up in for the short break. The grown trolls were actively trying to ignore looking at him and the whelps. This included Blinky.

He’d all but been abandoned by them. 

Maybe he could convince the whelps to take a nap. That… didn’t seem very likely. 

He had no other choice but to let them run amok. No one except him seemed to mind too much anyway. They seemed relieved the whelps were in a playful mood – and he supposed he was, too. The long journey had been trying for them all.

So, he let them run around until they tired themselves out. They created a pile around him, using him and each other as pillows. They were like puppies, twitching and whining in their sleep. 

It was… relaxing. 

He hadn’t realized that he’d been drifting off until he felt the phone in his pocket buzz against his leg. It woke him and the whelp who’d been sleeping on his leg.

The whelp blinked up at him with blurry eyes. She turned over, mumbling incoherent words.

Jim, meanwhile, answered the call.

“Hello?” he said, trying to shake off the sleep.

“Young Atlas.” Oh, it was Strickland.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I have… some news. It’s about your mother.”

**_That_ ** jerked him awake. He tried to keep his voice low, so as not to wake the whelps, but it was difficult. He felt a whine start up in the back of his throat.

“Is she okay?”

“She’ll be alright. Just a concussion.”

“What happened?”

“There was an accident at the hospital.”

* * *

All he wanted was a day to himself. A day where he didn’t have to deal with the hijinks of the new Creepslayerz — or whatever Steve, Krel, and Mary were calling themselves nowadays. Was that too much to ask?

Yes. Yes, it was.

Thankfully, AAARRRGGHH!!! had been around and had stopped most of the trouble. But it hadn’t been enough.

Once he’d finished with them — really, that was the  **_fourth_ ** incident this week and it was only Tuesday — he made his way to the hospital. 

He’d gotten a call from Mr. Strickler about Dr. Lake, though he hadn’t said what had happened, and then he got a panicked call from Jim. Jim, like any good son, swore that he’d start making his way back to see if she was okay. Like a good best friend, Toby had talked him out of it and promised to check in on her himself.

Mr. Strickler hadn’t given many details — mostly because Dr. Lake was still unconscious — but he knew that she was concussed. They were mostly worried because she hadn’t woken up after having a seizure. At least, that’s what Mr. Strickler had been told.

Toby… He wasn’t too sure. 

After everything they’d been through, after everything that had happened, a simple seizure didn’t seem likely. (Not that seizures were simple or anything. He knew they were rather complex, and doctors were still trying to understand them.)

So, Dr. Lake having a seizure? Yeah, no. Something else was going on.

Nana had offered to drive him, curious and worried herself about the health of their neighbor, but he’d turned her down. He would give her a call later or give her a rough explanation when he got back home.

He’d have to give Mr. Strickler one, too. It wasn’t like he could just go in and visit her as he was. Not many people outside of Arcadia Oaks knew about Trolls, and they planned on keeping it that way. Then there was little Will to think about...

He quickly gathered his things from his locker, stuffing them in his bag. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He brandished a book into the startled face of Darci.

“Sorry,” he said, bringing it down to his side. “Just… reactions.”

“No, it was my bad,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I should have said something first. Mind telling me what’s up? Jim didn’t get Claire pregnant, did he? If he did —”

“You would fly out there and help Claire kick his butt, we know.”

“No, I’d go out there and watch her kick his butt while eating popcorn. You’re more than welcome to come.”

He snorted, giving her a smile. It quickly vanished when he remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

“Dr. Lake is in the hospital,” he said.

“She’s a doctor. Isn’t she supposed to be?” She smiled at him. When she saw that he wasn’t joking, her face fell and her voice turned soft. “It isn’t serious, is it?”

“Don’t know yet. I’m about to head up there to go check.”

“I’ll come with you.” She started towards her locker to get her things. He closed his and followed her.

“You don’t have to —”

“I’ll get Mary to drive us. She doesn’t have anyone to do today. Er, anything to do today.”

“You don’t have to come. And I’m pretty sure Mary would rather be doing… something else.”

“Hey, your BFF is dating our BFF, and they happen to be on a cross country road trip with a bunch of trolls and a freakishly old wizard. Things are weird, and weird things keep happening. So, we got to help each other out. Besides, what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t force a friend to take us to visit our favorite doctor?”

“You’re the best, Darci,” he said, pulling her into a hug — by Deya, he’d missed hugging people. Without Jim around… Yeah, he didn’t hug many people anymore. Human contact was nice. Especially when it was with your girlfriend you didn’t get to see very often because of Trollhunter duties…

“So, what’s been going on with the Creepslayerz?”

“Trust me when I say this, you don’t want to know.”

* * *

“Do you really think this plan will work?” Eli said, stuffing the last of his things into his backpack. It wouldn’t fit everything, sadly.

“It is a rushed plan,” Aja said, bouncing on the soft mattress of his bed. (They’d brought one over for him shortly after arriving.) “And we have no other choice.”

“There is always a choice, Aja. We could stay here and try to get them to understand —”

“No, they won’t understand. If they get rid of Krel, then they could just as easily get rid of me.”

“But with the both of you on the same planet…”

Aja sighed.

“They could kill us both, I know. But they won’t.”

“How do you know they won’t?”

“Because they won’t murder their Queen.”

“That’s a pretty big risk, if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t.”

“Aja.”

“What?” she said, groaning and flopping back on the bed.

“They have technology that can destroy a whole planet. Can you guarantee that they won’t use it against us. Against you?”

She sat up, the frown pulling at her lips while her brow furrowed. For a moment, while he finished packing, she remained quiet. When he looked up, he saw a fire burning in her eyes. 

“We will go to Earth,” she said. “We won’t tell them until we are there. When they call for us, we will tell them that we are on a mission to find out what is causing… whatever readings they are picking up.”

“That still sounds like a terrible plan,” Eli said slowly, looking her up and down. He adjusted his glasses as he stood up and slipped his bag over one shoulder. “It still sounds better than before.”

“Good. Are you ready to go?”

“Uh, I think so.”

“Lively!”

It took some maneuvering, but the pair managed to slip down to the laboratory. Still, Aja knew the easiest route for the both of them. Although, sliding on an outside pipe wasn’t exactly what Eli signed up for. 

“That’s worse than gym class,” Eli said, attempting to balance on rubbery legs that refused to work the way he needed them to.

“Not really,” Aja said, peeking around a corner. “Coach would go easier on you than I do.”

“That’s true.” Eli carefully picked his way over to her, hugging closely to the wall as he walked on the tips of his toes. He was  **_so_ ** glad he bought sneakers the last time they visited Earth.

Aja waited a moment, ducking behind the corner and barely breathing, while two guards shuffled past. Their lumbering strides and raucous laughter drowning out the sound of the vents near the hiding pair.

When they were out of sight, Aja grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. Together, they darted around the corner down another hall. Aja shifted a panel and gestured for him to slip inside.

“Um,” Eli said, eyeing the space. There was really nothing there except a metal pole.

“Slide down it,” Aja said. “We only have to go down a little more.”

‘A little more’ ended up being three stories. Eli had to attempt to create friction with his shoes against the pole to slow himself down. Although, in the end, it was  **_much_ ** quicker than if they had taken the regular halls and elevators.

The laboratory had very few people in it. Really, just two others, Zadra, Izita, and Davaros. Izita was hovering near Davaros, who was chatting amicably with one of the Akaridians Eli didn’t recognize. Zadra was talking things over with the other.

“Your Highness,” Zadra said, straightening as they approached. 

“Sorry we took so long,” Aja said. “We had to take an extra short cut.”

Zadra nodded, her face remaining placid. 

“Right,” she said. “Are we all ready to go?”

“I can’t wait to see Earth,” Davaros said, beaming up at all of them. Giddily, she bounced on the tips of her toes, babbling about something or another. Eli tuned her out.

The wormhole generator hummed to life, the swirling mass of blue energy. Eli could see a bedroom beyond it — most likely Krel’s. He must have been working on it at his end, which meant their portal wouldn’t last long.

Zadra seemed to realize this, too, and ushered them all to the other side as she brought up the rear. She just made it through when on the Akadridian side of the portal they could hear pounding on the laboratory doors. 

Eli turned to see what would happen when it fizzled out of existence. He stood by Aja, looking around the cramped room.

“This is Earth?” Davaros said, still grinning. She clambered over to the window and looked out, gasping at whatever she saw (the quiet little cul de sac, if Eli recalled correctly).

Izita smiled, walking over and placing a hand on Davaros’s shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something when the door opened.

Krel stood in the doorway, his serrator at the ready. He dropped his protective stance when he saw who it was. 

“Little brother!” Aja said, running over and tackling him into a hug. 

“What,” Krel said, “what are you doing in my room?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a bit too much research on seizures. More than was actually needed for this fic. Ah well.


	5. Friends, Fiends, and Phone Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone comes back to Arcadia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up too early this morning. And decided to run from some zombies before posting this, so I'm a little bit on a runner's high. Running from zombies is how I've been handling things.

Eli felt his fingers and back muscles twitch as he sat with the others around the cramped living room. He was squished on the same loveseat as Aja and Davaros. Varvatos, Zadra, and Izita took up the other seats. Krel was pacing back and forth as he listened to Zadra’s explanation — with Aja adding in different things “for flavor”. 

Momblank and Dadblank — or Lucy and Ricky Blank, as Aja tended to call them — paced back and forth in the kitchen as they prepared snacks for the group. 

He fought the urge to roll his eyes and try to get comfortable. It was a little difficult with Aja moving every couple of minutes to reposition herself, and Davaros kept looking around at everything, occasionally asking questions.

He should probably find a different seat. Or stand.

“... forced to make a quick escape,” Zadra said, folding her hands neatly on her lap. With the way she and Varvatos were folded up on the couches, her slight movement made her look more out of place than ever. Next to her Izita appeared more comfortable. She was less constricted by her larger than average size.

“So, do you know why exactly they want to blow up Earth?” Krel said.

“Unfortunately no. My connections on Akraidian-5 might not be able to pull the answers for us. Our escape put them at risk.” Zadra looked down and then cleared her throat. “We do have a vague idea of why, however.”

“Oh?” Varvatos said. “And when did you plan on sharing this with Vavatos?”

Zadra gives him a slight glare and continues.

“Chief Advisor Stounos claimed that our people picked up an unrecognizable energy signature. It spikes randomly and has them worried. It has me worried, as well. We should wait for your friends to arrive. They would, perhaps, know more. They are more… involved with the Stone Folk.”

“Stone Folk?” Aja and Krel say at the same time. Each of them had furrowed brows and slight, frowning pouts.

“Trolls?” Eli said.

“Yes, the, um, Trolls.”

“Why didn’t you just —”

“Where are they?” 

They all jumped, armed and ready to attack the intruder. Who was only Steve. Surprisingly, his hair wasn’t perfectly combed, his eyes were a bit wild, and his shirt incorrectly buttoned. One of his shoes wasn’t properly tied either. 

“Where are…”

Steve’s eyes light up when he sees Aja. They rush toward one another and share a rather… close embrace. 

Eli looked away, scratching the back of his neck to give them a bit of privacy. (Also, it was  **_really_ ** gross. Did they have to do that in front of everyone?) His eyes trailed around the room. Lucy and Ricky placed the snacks and drinks down on the coffee table in front of them. Zadra looks slightly interested, though Izita is smiling and sighing contentedly. Varvatos is gagging. Davaros is too busy eating the snacks to care. And Krel…

Krel was looking around, just like him. He pretended to gag — finger in the mouth and everything. Eli stifled a laugh.

This catches Steve’s attention.

“Pepperbuddy!”

Steve looks and sounds like a puppy that is excited to see their human. Eli felt the smile spread across his cheeks as he stood and waited for Steve to tackle him.

It didn’t take long, and the pair of them were a laughing heap on the floor. Eli thought he was laughing so hard, one of his ribs might crack.

* * *

She jerked awake, legs kicking out unexpectedly as she gulped in a deep breath. It felt like she’d been plunged underwater and held there, with as damp from sweat as her hair was and how heavily she was breathing.

Her eyes glanced frantically about.

Her heart race calmed as she realized she was in a safe, sterile room. A hospital room, lying on a bed that had absorbed quite a bit of her sweat.

“Dr. L?”

She turned her head to see the worried faces of Toby and… Donna? No, that wasn’t right. 

“Are you okay, Dr. Lake?” the girl said, gently taking her hand. It was warm and dry against hers.

“Yes,” she said, feeling her dry lips start to crack. She licked them. “What… what happened?”

“One of the nurses said you had a seizure in the hallway,” Toby said. “Jim threatened to come back, and Mr. Strickler doesn’t know what to do.”

“They’re both okay, though? I thought… There was a dream, about Jim.” It was already fading from her mind, though the stench of burned flesh still clung to her nostrils.

“They’re fine, Dr. Lake,” the girl said. 

“I’m sorry, remind me of your name again?”

“Darci Scott. My dad’s the detective for the Arcadia police force.”

“Oh! You broke your arm in the third grade, right?”

“Yep!” Darci gave her a big smile. “Dr. Lake, you mentioned a dream? About Jim?”

“Did I?” she said, raising her brow. She thought about it for a moment, her brows creasing. “I… I think I did. I can’t quite…”

“What kind of dream was it, Dr. L.?” Toby said. 

“I’m not sure. It feels like, it feels like it was a bad one. But, but I can’t –”

“It’s okay if you can’t remember, Dr. Lake,” Darci said, stroking her hand. “I can’t remember half my bad dreams either.”

“How do you know it was a bad dream?” Toby said.

Darci shrugged. She turned to her, and said:

“Do you remember anything else about it? Besides Jim?”

A sharp knock on the door halted her answer. It was La’Wanda. She stood stiffly in the doorframe, her lips tightly pursed.

“Hello, Barbara,” she said. “I’m sorry to interrupt you kids, but, well, um. I’m not quite sure how to say this. Barbara, you’re, um, your husband is here to see you.”

“Husband?”

La’Wanda moved out of the way to allow the man to enter. He looked just as he did the day he left them. His eyes still blue, salt and pepper hair cropped close to his head, clean shaven. Even in his civilian clothes, one could easily tell he came from some sort of military background.

“Hello, Babs,” James Lake, Sr., said.

* * *

“Jim,” Claire said through the speaker, “slow down. I can’t understand you.”

“She’s in the hospital, Claire,” he said, a pitiful whine pulling at her words. “I don’t, I can’t —”

“Jim,  **_breathe_ ** for me. Or put Blinky on.”

“He doesn’t know. Claire, I have to go back. She could be really hurt.”

“Who?”

“My mom. Claire, I…” His voice cut off and a choking sound crackled through the phone.

“Do you want me to run back to camp?”

There was sound of movement, as if he was moving his head.

“Jim, breathe with me. Focus on breathing with me.” She breathed deep, hearing him take in a deep sigh with her. She exhaled slowly, he did the same in turn. She continued until she was sure he was calm. “Any better?”

“I’m not sure,” he said, his voice still quavering over the speaker. “What if something serious happened to her?”

“I’m sure everything will be okay. You’re mom’s pretty tough. You said you sent Toby to go check on her, yeah?” She shifted on the bed, lying down from her earlier sitting position. One of her legs kicked the book of magic, left open on the page about human souls.

“Yeah.”

“He’ll update you when he can.”

“Do, do you think you can call Mary or Darci or your parents? See if they can check to see her?”

“Yeah. I’ll see who can do it in a moment,” she said. “Did you want me to call you back when I’m done?”

“I don’t… Can you stay on the line?”

“Okay. I’ll just text them and see. Is that alright?”

“I, I guess.”

“Jim, talk to me. What’s going on with the trolls at camp? What have you been up to today?” She quickly sent out a mass text to the girls and her parents, hoping one of them would respond. 

“Blinky has been with the whelps,” he said.

“You mentioned that last night. What does he have you doing?”

Mary was the fastest.

_ d is with tp thyr chekin on dl  _

“I’m mostly trying to keep them busy. They were napping when Strickler called me.”

She nodded as she typed out her response.

_ Can you get a hold of her? I’m trying to keep Jim talking _

“That’s good. Did you nap with them?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

“Mary said Darci is with Toby. She’s going to try calling her to see if she can get any info. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, anything can help.” He breathed in deeply. “Thanks, Claire.”

“It’s what girlfriends do, right?”

“I don’t think many girlfriends deal with half-troll boyfriends and travel across an entire continent.”

“Hey, I chose to come with you. You, you’re important to me.” She turned to her side, drawing her knees up close to her chest. She wanted to hide away, bury herself in the pillows and blankets of the bed.

“You’re important to me too.” Relief washed over her at his softly spoken words. Her lips turned up at the corners, and she had to duck her face into the pillow — the one he’d used the night before when he lied next to her — to hide the spreading blush. Even though he wouldn’t see it.

“Do you want me to go back to camp? This has really got to be bugging you.”

“I don’t want you wandering around a strange area by yourself. We don’t know any safe places around here.”

“I’m not completely helpless. I can fight, and I’ve been learning some defensive spells.”

“I don’t doubt you can protect yourself. It’s just, I’d feel better knowing that you’re safe in the room, okay?”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, knowing that he could hear it in her voice.

“You said you were learning some defensive spells?”

“Yeah. Well, today’s lesson wasn’t one of those. It—” Her phone buzzed, alerting her to an incoming call. “Hey, Jim, I think either Mary or Darci is trying to call me. Can I put you on hold?”

“Is it about my mom?” The whine started to pick up in his voice again.

“It might be.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Okay.”

“I’ll see if I can do a three way call, alright?”

“Please.”

It was Darci — though she got put through to voicemail, and it took a moment for them to get ahold of one another, playing tag as they were.

“You’re not going to believe—” Darci said, only to be stopped short by Claire.

“Hang on,” she said. “I’ve got Jim on hold. I’m going to add him to the call real quick.”

It took less than a moment before the calls were connected.

“Darci?” Jim said, the whine very evident now.

“Your mom’s going to be okay,” Darci said, her tone warmer and a lot gentler than normal. “She just has a concussion from hitting the floor during the seizure. They did a CT scan a few minutes ago, and the doctors didn’t find any abnormalities that would have caused it.”

“So they don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

“They don’t, but Toby and I have some theories. We’re still looking into it, but we’re going to need to get into Blinky’s library.”

“It was trashed,” Claire said. “Gunmar and Morgana destroyed it.”

“There’s someone who can actually help. He… he actually just came to town a day or so ago. And you’re not going to like it?”

“Who is he?” Jim said.

“Jim,” Darci said, “you’re dad’s back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uuuuuuhm... guess who's back and ready to cause chaos?


	6. Leave and Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Absolutely no conversations that need to happen actually happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to post this a little earlier this morning and saw that I needed to rewrite a scene. How did I miss that?
> 
> Anyway, Toby gets two scenes in this chapter because I couldn't convey everything that was needed in one, and it had to happen this chapter.
> 
> Trigger Warning: There is a brief mention of bones breaking midway through the chapter.

First, Jim and Claire and the trolls left, then Dr. L. has a seizure, and now **_him_ **? Out of everyone who could pick the worst timing…

“Babs —” James said. Dr. L. cut him off.

“James,” she said, practically spitting his name. It was toxic on her tongue, and the glare? Toby was sure even Angor Rot would have begged for forgiveness at the sight of it.

“I know that I have a lot of explaining to do —” 

“You could explain to the Moon and back, and I still won’t believe you.”

James winced.

“I deserve that.”

“And a whole lot more,” Toby said under his breath.

“But there is a reasonable explanation. If we could just get a moment alone.”

“You think we’re going to leave Dr. Lake alone with you?” Darci said, crossing her arms. She didn’t know the full extent of pain James Lake, Sr., had caused Jim and Dr. L., but she could read the situation like Mary did a fashion magazine. “Anything you can say in front of her, you can say in front of us.”

The nurse who had let him in – a tall, black woman with her hair pulled back and sharp eyes – looked them and James over. Her frown deepened.

“If you’re going to cause my patient, my **_friend_ **, any distress,” she said, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“The kids can stay, La’Wanda,” Dr. L. said. “Him on the other hand…”

She nodded towards James and the nurse, La’Wanda, took that as her cue to take the man’s arm. She started to pull him away.

“We can either have this conversation now,” James said, grabbing onto the doorframe and holding himself there, “or we can have it later. But it needs to happen. You and I both know that.”

“I thought that I knew you,” Dr. L. said.

“And my patient needs to get ready for a CT scan,” La’Wanda said, eventually tugging hard enough that James let go. Toby watched him disappear, glaring as ferociously as he could at the man.

“Thank you,” Dr. L. said, lying back into the pillows in relief.

“We’re happy to help, Dr. Lake,” Darci said. “Do you want me to call my dad and see if he can get an officer or two to stand guard? For you, he’d be more than willing.”

“No, thank you, dear. I appreciate it, though.”

La’Wanda came back, visibly less tense.

“I handed him off to security,” she said. Her face softened considerably. “You alright, Barbara?”

“I’m fine, La’Wanda. Thanks for… making James leave.”

“Don’t worry about it.” La’Wanda looked at her and then the two of them. “Barbara, I scheduled a CT scan for you. Think you’re up for it?”

**. . .**

The scans came back normal. And that… that worried him. 

He’d stepped outside to try calling Jim, but he kept getting a busy signal. Maybe they were phone tagging one another? No. There was no notification or anything. Maybe he was talking to Strickler? Entirely possible. Though their ex-teacher changeling would know less than he did. 

He wasn't sure who else his friend would be calling. Claire? But for three hours? Unless they got separated… Though he was certain that one of them would have contacted him if that was the case.

He was about to go back in when he was stopped by a hand. He was pushed forcefully back against a wall by one arm as another came up to cover his mouth.

Upon instinct, Toby withdrew his hammer from the holster on his belt. (His Nana had made it for him. It matched his clothes.) It extended, and he swung it at the person holding him down. He only realized too late who it was.

James Lake, Sr.

Not that the man didn’t deserve it — he completely did — but he was human.

The hammer crunched through skin and bone of the skull and shoulder. He felt his stomach turn at the destruction. He didn’t get a chance to lose his lunch, however.

The broken body of James Lake, Sr. started to repair itself. His fingers twitched against the floor. When his skull was mostly reformed, the man sat up straight.

“Well,” James said, mouth having just come back. His eyes and brains were next. “Let’s not do that again, eh?”

“What, what **_are_ ** you?”

“Tell me, how do you know my family? And where, on god’s green earth, is my son?”

* * *

Jim was going to wear a hole in the carpet. He was going to wear it down by all the back and forth. Still, Claire didn’t have the heart to stop him. She would have been doing the same thing if it had been anyone in her family.

But it had to stop.

“Can you sit down?” she said, scooting further into the fluff of the pillows resting against the headboard. “You’re making my head hurt.”

“What does my dad want?” Jim said, which were the first coherent things since his mumbling started up… an hour ago when he arrived. “Why would he come back? Why now?”

“Maybe he heard about the storm and the fight, and he got worried.” Okay, that was a dumb suggestion.

“Worried? About what, the **_house_ ** ? A **_year_ ** late?”

“Maybe.” She watched as he continued to pace, an erratic and fearful creature. It didn’t help that he was on all fours. She pushed herself off the pillows and walked on her knees to the end of the bed. “Jim, look, I don’t know your dad. I don’t know what he could want in Arcadia. It could be something completely unrelated to us. You said he works for the military, right?”

“Yeah…” He looked up at her, his face turned into a pout.

“Do you know what division?”

“Mom never said.” His brow furrowed together as he thought for a moment. “I don’t think she even knew.”

“Well, think about what else has been going on.”

There was a beat, then he groaned.

“You think Krel and Aja…?” he said. He tossed his hands in the air, almost making him lose his balance. “Gah! Just what we need, Steve and Eli and everybody being wrapped up in something too big for the U.S. to handle.”

“And who knows, you’re almost eighteen. So, he might have thought that, well, you two should get to know one another. Or something.”

She offered up a little shrug and a tentative smile.

“Right, because he thinks I’ll just get up and join the Army like he did at eighteen. Yeah, how about no.”

“Jim, what —”

“Look,” he said, getting up and joining her at the end of the bed “my dad and I… We, uhm, I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“You have a complicated relationship,” she said, taking his hand. “I get it. I mean, I can’t really understand everything, but I get that whatever’s between you two isn’t something that easy to, well, understand. It’s not something that’s tangible, but there’s so much emotion that it almost is, I guess?”

He sighed, his face remaining startlingly neutral as he looked at her.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Do you want to cuddle for a while?”

Jim shrugged and gently tugged her back towards the headboard. He created something of a nest — well, she called it a nest and she thought Blinky would agree, but it could also be a pillow fort — out of the pillows. When he was satisfied with it, he gestured for her to settle in. Only when he was sure she was comfortable did he curl up against her, his head resting against her chest.

(It had been awkward the first couple of times. Like, really awkward. She couldn’t exactly place when she’d gotten comfortable with it. Probably when Jim whined and twitched in his sleep like a puppy. Yeah, that was probably it.)

“I know that he left you and your mom,” she said, her fingers stroking his hair. He curled further around her. “No one’s ever told me why, though. You don’t have to tell me. But, one day, I’d like to know.”

Jim breathed in through his nose, staring down at their feet. At least, she thought he was staring at their feet. She didn’t want to move too much to check and see.

“He was having an affair,” Jim said after a moment. “Someone he knew through the military. It… It kept him away a lot, I remember that much. Said it was part of his job, but it, you know, it wasn’t. He never introduced me to her, because it was an affair.”

Claire waited for him to continue.

“But, but I saw her. The day he left. She was with him. Well, waiting by his car.”

“What did she look like? Do you remember?”

He was silent while he thought.

“She was… white. Like, her hair and clothes were all white. And her clothes were kind of dated. Like 60s or 70s or something. I… I don’t remember anything else.”

“I can call Darci or Toby to see if a woman like that is lurking about. Want me to do that?”

“Why not? It can’t hurt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many things to say but spoilers.


	7. Suspicions and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What does James Lake Sr. want? Merlin knows something (apparently). Down they go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting this from my phone today. Bc my computer is being a butt and I can’t login to anything. So, yeah. 
> 
> Some things are revealed today. Have fun with that. 
> 
> I have about 14/15 chapters written for this, but I’m expecting 30 (minimum). We’ll see how that goes.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: Brief mention of gore. Vomiting.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“His brains went **_splat_ ** and then he was dead,” Toby said, waving his hands frantically, “but then he wasn’t and — oh no. I’m going to hurl.”

Darci watched as he ran towards the bathroom, wincing as she heard the wet slap of stomach acid and liquidized food hit the toilet. She looked over to Dr. Lake, who’s brow was furrowed as she contemplated while staring down at the cup of tea in her hand. She wondered if she could feel the heat through the paper and thin foam insulation – probably.

Toby rejoined them, wiping his mouth down with a paper towel. He took to twisting it in his hands.

“I don’t like this,” he said, sitting down next to her on the window sill — it wasn’t much of a seat, but neither wanted to take up the only chair in the room. 

“Do you know what he wanted?” Dr. Lake said, looking up at him through her glasses.

“To see Jim, mostly.”

“What… what did you tell him? Did you say where Jim was?”

“Nuh-uh. Just on a roadtrip with his girlfriend and some family friends. Half truths, you know?”

“How’d he take it?” Darci said, fiddling with a string on her shirt. She was going to have to cut that off when she got a moment.

“Better than what you’d expect from a man whose head was caved in a moment ago.” Toby looked at Dr. Lake. “Hey, Dr. L., did you ever — you know — suspect that he wasn’t human or whatever?”

The woman frowned and shook her head.

“After everything that’s happened the last two years,” she said, “I should have expected it, huh?” She gave a little laugh through her nose, a bitter smile crossing her face. “I know how to pick ‘em, don’t I?”

“Oh, Mr. Strickler isn’t **_too_ ** bad. I mean, now that he’s not trying to kill us.”

“Wait,” Darci said, frowning, “what did he try to do? Toby —”

“Not important now!” His voice raised a couple of octaves as he raised his hands to defend himself. He turned back to Dr. Lake. “And, hey, James never tried to kill anyone. That we know of. Or maybe he has and he’s like a zombie or something or —”

“You’re starting to sound like those kids in your class — what do they call themselves? Creep killers?”

“Creepslayerz,” Darci said. She turned her head to glare at Toby. “And we are **_totally_ ** talking about Mr. Strickler trying to kill you later.”

“Yeah, Creepslayerz. How are they doing? I haven’t had a chance to talk with them in a while.”

“I don’t even know where to start,” Toby said, resting his hands on his hips. “With just Steve, Krel, and Mary, of all people, they’re mass chaos. I can’t even count how many times me and AAARRRGGHH!!! have had to bail them out of something or other. And now that Aja and Eli are back — still need to get the full story on that, by the way — I’m kind of afraid that Arcadia won’t be standing for a whole lot longer.”

“Wait, Aja and Eli are back?” Darci said. She thought about it for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Since when?” 

“Since… a day or two ago? I don’t remember. Anyway, they came to Earth because of some kind of signal or something. Eli and I haven’t had some time to sit down and talk things out. We had plans for today, but… yeah.”

“Huh. Aliens. Aliens and trolls. What’s next, Camelot? Oh, god, please no. I don’t think I could handle it.”

“Uh…”

She saw the look that Toby was giving her.

“Camelot’s real, isn’t it,” she said flatly. He nodded and she sighed. “Great. That’s just… great.”

“Actually,” a voice from above said, “Camelot was just a legend. It was something we hoped that we could build. Avalon, on the other hand, is very much real — though I wouldn’t recommend going there for a vacation. The leprechaun infestation is rather... nasty.”

Darci watched with wide eyes as James Lake, Sr., dropped down from the ceiling and on the opposite side of the bed.

Toby was up in seconds, his hammer out, and going for the man’s head again. James stopped the hammer with a sword pulled from… honestly, she wasn’t sure. 

Magic was the only explanation.

“Now, now,” James said, “let’s not do that again. I think I finally got my eyes back to the way they were.”

“What do you want?” Barbara said, slowly rising from her bed.

“To help. But I have to go to Trollmarket in order to get what I need.”

* * *

“I have to go back,” Jim said, drawing Blinky’s attention away from whatever conversation he and Merlin had been having. He’d returned to camp earlier that evening with Merlin. Claire was working on some magic or something and texting Mary, trying to get updates. (Darci wasn’t answering anymore.)

Their conversation… didn’t **_seem_ ** important, but he had other things on his mind. Like what was going on in Arcadia.

“I beg your pardon?” Blinky said, all four of his eyes blinking at once. The scandalized expression almost made him wince. Almost.

“To Arcadia.”

“I understood that much, but I’m not sure as to the reason why? Surely Tobias is looking after your mother.”

Jim shook his head. His hair (fur?) shifted oddly around the roots of his horns — which was an odd, tingling sensation.

“It’s not my mom. I mean, part of it is. She’s fine, but there’s something going on with her and I’m worried.”

“Of course you’re worried,” Merlin said with a bored lilt, eyes scanning the area dully. “I don’t know a single whelp that is your age and not **_not_ ** worried about your mother.”

“My dad’s back.”

“Your father?” Blinky said. “James Lake, Sr.?”

“ _ **Y**_ ** _es_ **! And he wants to get into Trollmarket.”

“Oh my…”

“How does he even know Trollmarket exists?”

“Why does that name sound familiar?” Merlin said, tapping his chin.

“Because I was named after him?” Jim said, exasperated.

“No. No, that’s not it… It sounds a lot like — but no. He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he? Well, he wasn’t always the smartest.”

“Who, may I ask, are you talking about?” Blinky said, folding all four arms across his chest.

“Hm? Oh, I forget you don’t always know every Knight of the Round.”

“Wait, the Knights of the Round Table are real?” Jim said.

“Round Table? Where did you get that nonsense from? Bah, humans! I will never understand them.”

“Merlin, who is he?”

“Oh. I never said? The Prince of Benwick, of course.”

* * *

He had never been so glad to have the Creepslayerz in Arcadia — it was kind of a relief that Steve had answered any of his texts. He’d been afraid that he’d have to go into Trollmarket with just AAARRRGGHH!!! as backup. He… wasn’t entirely sure that the two of them could take on James Lake Sr. if something happened.

The van was cramped, but it was good to be surrounded by friends.

The large group consisting of him, AAARRRGGHH!!!, Steve, Eli, Mary, Aja, Krel, and James as they made the long trek down to the ruins of what once was Trollmarket. If James had any problems, he and AAARRRGGHH!!! were at the ready. 

Darci had opted to stay a little longer with Dr. L. before leaving shortly before visiting hours ended. At least one of them were able to keep her company. It seemed like they got along while he was there. And he liked the goofy selfie she took while she waited for her dad to arrive.

The crystal stairs no longer glowed beneath their feet. They were forced to rely on flashlights and the bio-luminescence Krel and Aja produced in their natural forms.

“What,” James said, keeping his own small flashlight attached to his keys on his path, “What happened here?”

“The short answer,” Toby said, “Merlin, Morgana, and Gunmar.”

Mary was taking pictures.

“And the long answer?”

“We woke up Merlin, Morgana was freed, there was a big battle, yada yada yada, everything kind of got destroyed.”

“I do not think the Akaridian war helped with any of this,” Aja said, looking around and gesturing to a demolished stall. 

If Toby was being honest, despite her and Krel’s strange appearance, he preferred this look on them. They were more comfortable when they could be themselves. 

Eli was examining **_everything_ ** — as he always did. This was, what, his fourth or fifth time visiting what used to be Trollmarket? Still, there was all this curiosity about the place for him.

And, amusingly, Steve was keeping him from tripping, falling, and running in to everything. And they hadn’t even made it all the way down yet.

“You said the stairs used to glow, yeah?” Eli said. “Do you think the Heartstone dying had anything to do with this?”

“Yeah,” Toby said. “That’s the main reason.”

“Trolls feed off the energy of the Heartstone,” James said. “I’m honestly surprised to still see one hanging about. How are you faring, Krubera?”

AAARRRGGHH!!! looked down at James, examining him though the darkness. He helped them down a few steps before answering.

“Wingman help,” AAARRRGGHH!!! said. “Dictatious here too. Find food above. Heartstone not important.”

Toby caught sight of a strange look James gave AAARRRGGHH!!!, but the man did not comment on AAARRRGGHH!!!’s explanation. He, instead, focused his energy on making it the rest of the way down in silence.

Trollmarket was how they had last left it. There was debris everywhere. Together, he and AAARRRGGHH!!! were separating what was troll from everything else. They planned to reconstruct as many as they could in honor of those who had passed — Gumm-Gumm or not. They weren’t sure if everyone who fought for Morgana’s cause was under the influence of Gunmar’s _Decimar_ blade. It was best to assume that they had been. They felt less guilty this way.

The Heartstone itself stood dark and gray over the village. It was a cold, dead thing that loomed over them now. He wondered if it would ever glow again. Probably not.

“Blinky’s library is this way,” Toby said, jerking his flashlight in the direction they needed to go.

“Gunmar did all this?” James said, his own flashlight scanning everything as slowly as his eyes did. There was sorrow and regret etched onto his features. He said something in a language Toby didn’t understand — something old and forgotten. AAARRRGGHH!!! seemed to understand it though and murmured back a response.

When the little prayer was finished, James nodded to Toby to lead the way.

The trek to the library was quiet until they got inside. Toby used what skills he had learned in boy scouts so many years ago — he’d only joined to hang out with Jim more, and they ended up meeting Eli this way. And Steve.

Those had been a difficult two years.

In no time, he had a fire going. He and AAARRRGGHH!!! used Blinky’s old candle lighter – something he’d only ever seen in churches before then – to light various candles around the room. Many of the books were destroyed, pages and binding lain strewn across the shelves, overturned tables, and the floor.

Toby was glad Blinky never saw this place in such a state. It would have broken him.

“Oh my,” James said, adjusting his glasses. He took several tentative steps in, past the Creepslayerz to survey the destruction. He scooped up a book and flipped through it, the pages in their torn and half-burned state crinkling. “I have seen a great deal of tragedy before, but this? I don’t think even Alexandria compares to this.”

James’ blue eyes scanned the room once more. There was a twinkle that was starting to glimmer in the corners of them.

“However, Alexandria never had anyone who could mend destruction.”

“What are you —” Toby started to say. He was cut off by James waving his arm and a yellow energy snaking out of his palms. The yellow energy swirled around, collecting books in a tornado. He could only watch with wide eyes as the books started to pull back together and the pages peeled off any scorch and burn marks.

Without a word to command them, the books relined themselves on the shelves and in piles on the now righted tables. It looked almost like he remembered. Like Blinky and Jim and Claire would come in and they would start discussing Trollhunting business…

“Well,” James said, dusting off his hands on his jeans, “where should we start first?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, yeah. That’s happening.
> 
> Also, forgot I put Mary in that last scene. Uh.... she will be speaking when she shows up next. I promise.


	8. Family and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one wanted this to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How's everyone handling the apocalypse? Me? I just got three new facemasks and waiting on my pair of vampire teeth because, hey, what else can I do besides spend my time figuring out cosplay videos on Tiktok.

The three way call with Jim and Claire the evening before could have gone significantly worse. She was fairly certain that before Claire had called her and told her about Jim’s panicking she would call him and tell him what was up. (Toby had been occupied with making sure James didn’t hurt Dr. Lake — which was totally reasonable — so he couldn’t call. The nurse — who’d been unfazed at seeing Toby with a warhammer — was furious about the man sneaking back in. It… was a whole ordeal.)

She’d been relieved when Claire called. She’d actually been more than happy to inform Jim that his mom was more than fine. (She was practically spitting fire.) The problem wasn’t just that James wanted into Trollmarket, it was the fact that no one could figure out why Barbara Lake had had the seizure in the first place.

Neither she nor Toby wanted to leave Dr. Lake alone, mostly because they weren’t sure how Mr. Lake had gotten into the ventilation system in the first place. She gave her dad a quick call and set up to have the doctor’s room watched until she was released. That was all she could do.

Toby left with Steve, Eli, Krel, Aja, and Mary. And Mr. Lake cramped in a bench seat between them. She should have joined them… 

Still, one of them needed to stay with Dr. Lake for a little while. Darci decided she liked the doctor. She was funny and they traded stories about Jim in and out of school. 

She sent Toby a selfie in the interim while she waited (well over an hour ago) and told him her father had picked her up. It was almost ten by the time he could make it. By that time, she’d nearly fallen asleep on one of the chairs by the desk. Her main comfort was a cup of overly sweet tea with a bitter after taste, given to her by a nurse.

To her surprise, Darren was with her father — although he was conked out in his booster seat.

“Hey, dad,” she said, climbing in the back to sit next to Darren before getting her hair too wet from the drizzle that had started. She leaned over the arm and the headrest to give him a kiss on the cheek. She shrugged off her schoolbag and set it at Darren’s feet.

Darren didn’t wake but he mumbled in his sleep.

“Hey, little guy,” she said, adjusting the blanket over his legs. 

“How’s Dr. Lake?” her father said.

“She’s talking and laughing, but the doctors don’t really know what’s wrong with her. I feel kind of bad, you know? Jim’s all the way out east, and Mr. Strickler can’t exactly walk into a hospital looking like he is. It doesn’t feel right leaving her alone.”

She saw her father nod, but he didn’t say anything. 

Some synth based song from the 80s played quietly from the speakers — the original version of the one that was covered in that _Shrek_ movie. She just looked out the front, lights streaking against the rain that picked up.

The drive there was quiet save for the terrible music her father liked, the whirring of the wipers, and the rain outside. She could feel herself being lulled into sleep, resting her head against the cold glass of the window.

She was jerked awake when they stopped at a red light. She sat up straight and looked around. They weren’t too far from home.

“Sorry,” her father said. “Didn’t mean to stop like that.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

“Hm?” Darren said next to her. He sat up and wiped his eyes. “Daddy? Dee?”

“Hey, little guy,” she said, fixing the blanket that had started to slip off him.

“Where are we?”

“We’re almost home,” her father said. “Surprised her hooligan boyfriend wasn’t with her.”

She kicked the back of his chair.

“Toby wasn’t guilty of any of those crimes and you know it.” She matched his glare from the rearview. “Okay, maybe he, Jim, and Claire stole Señor Uhl’s truck, but they were being chased by goblins. Pretty sure fleeing for one’s life is a defendable offense.”

He mumbled something she couldn’t hear. He reversed the car and started towards their home.

“No T-man?” Darren said. He scrunched up his face as he thought. After a beat, he shrugged it off and offered her his palm. “Hold my hand?”

She chuckled and took it, placing a kiss on the knuckle of his thumb. She noticed it was trembling slightly.

“Hey, little guy, you okay?”

His eyes, glazed and wide, looked up at her. His breathing turned labored and uneven. A moment passed before his head jerked from side to side.

“Dad, pull over,” she said. “Pull over, pull over!”

She wasn’t sure if her father listened, but Darren had already started seizing. His head jerked back and rolled. 

What was she supposed to do? Move him from the booster seat? Hold him in place? Call 911?

Her father was opening the car door and unbuckling Darren.

“Move to the floor, and I’ll lay him on the seat,” he said. “Make sure he stays in the seat – don’t restrain him – put your jacket under his head, and time it. I’ll get us to the hospital.”

She did as she was told and watched as Darren was lain on the seat in front of her. She held him in the crook of the seat and kept an eye on her wristwatch, stroking his head and mumbling incoherent words.

He was still seizing when they reached the hospital, seven minutes later.

* * *

She didn’t get any sleep that night. And she wasn’t surprised.

La’Wanda had managed to filch her phone from the storage closest where they held onto items patients weren’t supposed to have. She’d called Jim first. It went straight to voicemail, which probably meant they were traveling again or it needed to be charged. She let him know what was going on. She didn’t tell him about the vision she’d had though — she hadn’t told anyone yet.

She sent a quick text to Claire, telling her to make Jim charge his phone so they could talk. 

Walter was third. He couldn’t exactly come to the hospital as a Troll, and someone needed to be home with Willoughby. He was relieved to hear from her, of course.

“I’ll be released sometime tomorrow,” she said, lying back on the extra pillows a thoughtful attending had brought her. “I should be home before noon, if all goes well. Think you can make bacon mac and cheese?”

“Not like Jim,” Walter said, “but I can most certainly try.”

“Thank you.” She felt her lips tug up at the thought of eating Jim’s works of art. What she wouldn’t give to eat meatloaf or an omelette or even those pancakes he burned after James left them and he was done with eating takeout. Those pancakes had been terrible, but it had been a start.

Thoughts of that and the start of it all brought her back to the present. James. She wasn’t sure if anyone had told Walter yet. She trusted Toby, almost as if he was her own son, but she didn’t put it past him to not inform Walter of her ex being back in Arcadia.

“Walt?” she said.

“That,” he said, “that doesn’t sound good. Is something wrong? Are you about to have another seizure?”

She shook her head, realizing a moment later that he couldn’t see her.

“I have something to tell you. It’s about Jim’s father.”

“Barbara, this can wait until you’re back home and can rest here. Telling me about him over the phone isn’t going to go over very well. Will might interrupt us. He’s not sure what’s going on, but he can sense something’s wrong.”

“Please, Walt, this is —”

“Rest for right now. We can talk when you’re home. Goodnight.”

His words weren’t harsh, they never were with her. Not after… everything. He’d been unbearably gentle. He had the need to be. It still stung when he ended the call, though.

She sat there, holding her phone to her ear for a moment longer. She lowered it slowly to her side, hand coming to rest on the mattress. She looked down at the glowing screen casting a warm glow against the spotless, white sheets. A cheesy selfie of Jim and Claire was set as her background. (Claire had taken it and sent it to her a week after they’d left. It was accompanied by a long draft of a text about everything that had gone on in that week, as well as some details that had been left out during their explanation of the fight.)

The selfie made her smile. It was sweet and a bit goofy, and utterly adorable. No matter what, Jim still looked like her Jim. There was no doubt in Barbara’s mind that Claire and Toby and Blinky and everyone else felt the same way.

She wondered how James would react to their son’s transformation. Considering he knew about Trolls, Avalon, and who knew what else, he might take it… well.

A sharp wrap on her door alerted her to one of the attendings coming in to check on her. She quickly hid her phone under the blankets.

“Dr. Lake?” 

It was Gatik. He was stocky and a bit soft around the edges. Intelligent brown eyes peered at her through square framed glasses. He shuffled inside, checking behind him to look over the guard Darci had called him. The officer looked nonplussed. A simple gold band gleamed on his right hand — ah, so his boyfriend proposed then. Good.

“Hey, Gatik,” she said.

“You, uh, cellphone?”

She winced. He **_had_ ** seen it. She pulled it out from under the blankets.

“You’re going to confiscate it, aren’t you?”

“No, no, no! I, um, Nurse Gray told me and a few others. We, uh, we aren’t to tell Dr., um, Dr. Stevens about it. She told us, uh, that your son. He, um, he’s on a, a road trip, yeah?”

“Yeah. With his girlfriend. They’re going to New Jersey.”

“If I, uh, can I ask why?”

“The Pine Barrens. They’re going cryptid hunting.”

“Cryptid?”

“The Jersey Devil. You ever hear of it?”

“A podcast might have mentioned it. But, a whole year?”

“The Pine Barrens are big. A lot of ground to cover.” Although, it wouldn’t take a whole year to explore.

“Ah.”

“So, what’d you come in here for?”

“Oh, right,” he flipped open a manila folder. “Dr. Lake, if you, uh, don’t mind, I have a few questions for you?”

“Alright.”

“Was there something you ate or drank that might have caused the seizure?”

“Not that I can recall. Will I need to do a blood and urine test?”

He shook his head.

“What activities did you engage in yesterday?”

“Spent some time with my boyfriend and our adopted son. Spoke to Jim and Claire for a little bit. Got ready for work. Not much else.”

“There’s nothing you can recall?”

“I went over this with Dr. Peng earlier. It should all be in my file.”

“We’re just… double checking.” A stone sunk in her stomach as she saw the way his eyes darted off to one side and the way his fingers fidgeted. 

“Someone else had an unexplainable seizure,” she said, sitting up. “Who was it? Are they still here?”

He held up the folder between them, as a makeshift shield, and backed away two steps.

“I, um, I’m not allowed to disclose that information.”

“Gatik —”

A knocking on the door and a soft call for her drew her attention away from the attending.

“Dr. Lake?” 

Darci Scott cautiously tiptoed into the room. Her eyes were red and her makeup had started to run. Her lip trembled, though she clenched her jaw and set it high.

“Hey,” Barbara said, getting up out of her bed. The machine she was attached to started to beep furiously. Gatik went over to turn it off as she unhooked herself. She pulled the girl in for an embrace. “Hey, shh, what’s wrong?”

Darci tucked her head under her chin and sobbed into the stiff fabric of the hospital gown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I did so much research into seizures.


	9. Identities and Intrigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: When I first wrote Toby's scene, I forgot some pretty big things. Going back and editing it later was a headache.
> 
> I debated whether or not I should post the next chapter in light of everything going on in the world, and I decided to go through with it. I'll add a link for a YT playlist at the bottom of this for people who want to do something but are unable to.

**Drawn From Stone**

**Chapter Nine**

Dr. Lake had to be the best mother she had ever known — which wasn’t saying too much, as she really didn’t know her own mother, Darren’s mom had kind of been a one time thing with her dad and he’d gotten custody over him, Claire’s mom was (well) Claire’s mom, and Mary’s mother had an alcohol problem. Still, she was almost absolutely certain that if there was a definition for “best mother”, Dr. Lake’s picture would be there.

She finally understood how Jim came to be such a great guy. 

The poor doctor — not a doctor, an attending — had bolted out of there as soon as he could. She didn’t think he was well trained in dealing with people. He had that look about him.

A nurse who had passed by brought in two steaming cups. Hot chocolate, by it’s sweet taste. That or coffee that had been sweetened too much with more milk than is absolutely necessary. She welcomed its warmth. It settled into her trembling fingers and helped ease away any uncertainty.

“What was it like?” she said, after she’d managed to calm down enough. She was sitting next to Dr. Lake, leaning her head against her shoulder as the woman continued to comfort her.

“What?” Dr. Lake said.

“Having a seizure?”

Dr. Lake hummed for a moment while she thought.

“I wasn’t really aware of it,” she said. “I was in a different place. It’s sort of different with each individual case. Some people experience auras, warning signs that a seizure is about to happen and, in itself, is a miniature seizure. This could be lightheaded-ness or twitching or feeling nauseated. In some cases, people are able to smell certain things. There are people who have simple partial seizures, where they are aware that they are having a seizure. There are more complex cases, too, where the person doesn’t remember having the seizure.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“Well, I am a doctor.” Darci gave her a look, which Dr. Lake returned with a smile. “Jim was epileptic. I think he was… eight when he had his last seizure? Yeah, that sounds about right. Try being a single mother watching your child have a seizure on the floor of a Macy’s store. That was… interesting.”

“Did you feel helpless when he had them?”

“All the time. I was afraid he was going to hurt himself, or he would have one when I wasn’t around. He had great friends, though. And the teachers were always good about knowing what to do.” Dr. Lake pulled her in for a hug. “Your brother’s going to be okay. It’s scary the first few times, but you get the hang of it.”

A soft knock at the door alerted them to an intruder. 

“Gatik,” Dr. Lake said, looking up. It was the attending who’d been talking to her before Darci had interrupted. “What’s up?”

“I was actually looking for Miss Scott,” he said, tapping his fingers against his clipboard. He nodded to Darci and cleared his throat. “I apologize for leaving like that earlier, but I thought you would like a bit of privacy.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Anything else?” Dr. Lake said.

“Er, yes. It’s about your brother, Miss Scott.”

“Is he awake?” she said, shooting to her feet so quickly black took over her vision. (Wasn’t that supposed to mean that she had a sodium deficiency or something?)

“I’m afraid,” Gatik said. He looked down at his feet and cleared his throat once more. “I’m afraid he’s in a coma.”

* * *

He paced along the foot of the bed. Claire sat at the head of the bed, NotEnrique curled up in her lap. Her eyes followed his movements. There was a line creasing her scrunched up brow.

“Wait,” Claire said, her hands stroking NotEnrique’s back. (Jim was pretty certain he was purring, but NotEnrique would murder him if he mentioned it). “Who?”

“The Prince of Benwick, whoever that is,” Jim said, his arms flinging upwards. He held them there for a moment before threading his fingers through his hair. “Merlin thinks my dad is a  **_prince_ ** . Of all the ridiculous… He can’t be, right?”

“Well…” 

Jim turned his head, jaw dropped and eyes wide.

“Jim,” she said, “it might explain a few things. I mean —”

“Claire, my dad is  **_not_ ** a price. That would make me a… a, uh…”

“I think a prince, too.”

He glared at her. 

“Let’s just google it.”

He siddled over to her, plopping down on the bed next to her. He rested his chin on her head to see her phone’s screen. 

“You’re heavy, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “What’s it say?”

“The son of a prince is a prince.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Jim…”

“Google… google Prince of Benwick.”

“You have a phone, too, you know.” She typed it into google anyway. It took a moment to find any answers, but Jim didn’t like them.

“No,” he said, hopping off the bed. “No, nope, no. Nu-uh. No way.”

“I mean, it makes sense,” she said. “What do you think ‘du Lac’ meant?”

“You mean  _ Shrek _ stole that from Arthurian legend?”

“Oh, for the love of…” She sighed and deadpanned. “Yes, Jim. The directors of  _ Shrek _ took that from Arthurian legend. They also stole a lot of things from Germanic fairy tales and lore. They also completely changed the original story the movie was based off. Shrek used to breathe fire, you know that?”

“But… but  **_Lancelot_ ** ? Lancelot is my  **_dad_ ** ?”

Claire scooched over, careful not to jostle NotEnrique. She patted the newly empty space beside her. 

Hesitantly, he moved to her side, lying down next to her. His head rested on her free thigh.

“How much do you know about Arthurian legend?” Claire said, stroking his head between his horns.

A pleasant tingle ran down his spine, making him curl his toes.

“Didn’t Guinevere have an affair with Lancelot?” he said, looking up at her. He willed her to stroke his head again.

“Sort of? It’s not even in the original lore. A lot of scholars believe it was written by a man who gifted it to his patron. She was a fan of courtly love. Or something like that. I… can’t quite remember. All of my notes are back at my parents’ house.”

“ **_Notes_ ** ?” he said. She gave him a shy shrug and a little smile. Of course Claire would have notes. Why wouldn’t she?

“What? After I found out about the whole… Trollhunting business, I did my research on Arthur and Merlin and everything. I kind of wish I’d brought the notebooks —”

“Notebooks.”

“— so I could ask Merlin about somethings. You know, get some of the legends and stuff straightened out. I kind of want to know what did and didn’t happen. I’m pretty certain the whole affair thing was something that didn’t.”

Jim snorted, making her look down at him.

“What?” she said.

“You’re such a nerd,” he said, poking her thigh.

“Says the guy who played Dungeons and Dragons!”

“Hey, if we had asked you to join us, you would have! Remember the LARPing thing? That’s just a step up from D&D.”

“Oh, god.”

“What?”

“ **_You’re_ ** the nerd — you called it D&D!” She jerked her legs, making him sit up and rest on one arm. Poor NotEnrique looked between the two of them and muttered something, moving to the foot of the bed. He curled up and went right back to sleep.

“You knew that when you started dating me.”

“I knew that since I had a crush on you.”

“You had a crush on me?” That perked him right up. A goofy grin pulled at his cheeks and his eyebrows rose.

Claire opened her mouth, as if to defend herself. She couldn’t get a word out before her phone went off. It buzzed on the nightstand behind him. 

He reached over and grabbed it, handing it to her.

“It’s Darci,” she said, frowning down at the screen. She accepted the call, bringing her phone up to her ear. “Hello?”

“Claire?” Darci said. Jim  **_tried_ ** not to listen, but it was a little difficult with his hearing slightly enhanced. “Thank god. Mary’s on a date and isn’t answering, Toby has his hands full, I don’t really know what’s up with Shanon these days – Look, I just… I need someone to talk to.”

“Are you okay?” Claire sat up straighter, giving Jim a sidelong look as he brought himself closer to listen in. “You sound like you’re having a panic attack.”

“Sort of? I am. I really, totally am. Panicking. Panic attacking. Having a panic attack? Yeah, that thing.”

“Darci, just breathe with me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Do you mind if I put you on speaker? Jim’s here with me. It’s just the two of us.”

“Yeah,” Darci said, her voice a little fluttery. “Yeah, okay.”

Claire set the phone down on her knee, between her and Jim. She pressed the speaker button.

“Hey, Darci,” Jim said, he gave Claire a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks again for the update. Any news?”

“Not… I haven’t checked. I should go do that. Yeah. Keep myself busy. Hang on, I can ask a nurse.”

“You’re still at the hospital?” Claire said, her brow scrunching together again. Her frown deepened. “I thought you left, like, an hour ago.”

Over the speaker, there was a beeping. Hospital machinery.

“I… I did,” Darci said, “but I came back.  **_Had_ ** to come back.”

Claire turned to look at Jim, who met her eyes. He was frowning as well.

“It’s, um, it’s Darren.”

“Is he okay?” Claire said. Her eyes flicked over to NotEnrique, her heart stuttering for a moment.

“Uh…” Jim said, raising a hand and mouth wide.

“Darren is Darci’s younger brother. He plays soccer on the team Eli coaches.”

“Eli coaches soccer?” 

“Yeah, during the summer,” Darci said. A light but forced laugh followed after her voice. “You don’t pay much attention, do you?”

“Darren?” Claire said, interrupting whatever was going on.

“He, uh – Hold on, I found a nurse.” They heard Darci speak and a man following after. It was a few more minutes before Darci’s voice became discernable again. “...thank you. You’re mom’s good to be released in the morning. It’s already been approved by another doctor. They’ve ordered her to a seven day break. Strickler’s been called and informed already. He just has to keep an eye on her and monitor her symptoms. If she looks like she’s going to have another seizure, he’s to call for an ambulance immediately.”

“That’s a relief,” Jim said, letting out a breath. He lied back down, coaxing Claire to relax with him. “They still don’t know what happened?”

“Like I told you earlier. The doctors didn’t see any abnormalities. Toby is going with AAARRRGGHH!!! and the Creepslayerz with your… with James tomorrow morning, in a couple of hours, to Blinky’s library. They’re going to be doing some research. If they can figure out what happened to your mom, they might be able to figure out what happened to Darren –”

“What did happen to Darren?” Claire said. “You keep cutting yourself off.”

Darci paused for a moment. Jim could almost hear her debating whether or not to tell them. And when she spoke, her voice was flat.

“He had a seizure,” she said. “He hasn’t woken up yet, so they don’t want to do a scan or really move him around too much.”

“Is he okay?” Claire said. “He didn’t hurt himself, did he?”

“No, no. Dad and I were in the car with him. He… I don’t know. First Doctor Lake, now Darren…”

“You don’t think this will happen to anyone else, do you?” Claire reached out her hand to Jim. He took it, lacing their fingers together and pressing a kiss to the soft skin of her thumb.

“I don’t know,” Darci said. “I honestly don’t know.”

* * *

His phone was rapidly buzzing in his pocket, but at the moment Toby didn’t really care. He was far more intrigued by the man in front of him. Who exactly was James Lake. Sr.? 

A man who up and left his family for a floozie?

A man with magical powers?

Was he like Merlin or…?

Toby shook his head. He didn’t want to go down that road. Another wizard on their hands couldn’t be a good thing. Claire developing her own powers was more than enough.

Aja and Krel leaned over James’ shoulder, a little too close for any possible comfort but the man paid them little mind. Eli and Steve flipped through some of the tomes – Eli with more interest and understanding of the Trollish language than his friend. AAARRRGGHH!!! seemed to brood in one corner, keeping an eye on them all.

His phone kept vibrating. Giving in, he checked the screen to see who was trying to reach him. Multiple calls and messages from Jim and Claire, though they were diminished by the amount of times Darci had tried to get ahold of him.

He quickly opened his voicemail. Her voice, shrill and wavering, curled out of the speaker. He couldn’t make sense of the first few dozen or so calls, but eventually he opened a recording – this one of Dr. L.

“Toby,” she said, her voice slow and calm, “I don’t know everything that’s going on, but Darci could really use your help right now. Her little brother,” Darci’s voice garbled out something in the background, “Her little brother, Darren, is in the hospital. He had a seizure and hasn’t woken up. The doctors decided to state that he’s in a coma. When you can, get over here. Darci could use a friend right now.”

He shot up and pocketed his phone.

“I have to go,” Toby said to no one in particular.

“What?” Steve said. “Abandoning us to do all the hard work while you suck face with Darci?”

“Her brother’s in the  **_hospital_ ** , Steve, and it’s bad enough that she’d freaking out. Dr. L. had to leave a voicemail.”

“Yeah, she texted me a few times to get your attention,” Mary said. “I told her that you’re pretty wrapped up in something down here.”

“Mary!”

“How bad?” James said, looking up from the book. Round glasses were perched at the end of his nose, making him appear much older.

“Darren’s in a coma.”

“She did  **_not_ ** tell me that,” Mary said, whipping out her phone and furiously tapping away at the keyboard. Aja and Krel looked over her shoulder, slightly frightened by either what they saw in the conversation or by her rapid movements. It could have been both.

“Anything happen beforehand?” James marked off the book, closing it softly as he got to his feet. 

“He had a seizure, like Dr. L. – Wait, you think it’s connected?”

“Magic has always worked in mysterious ways. That’s why I was drawn to Arcadia Oaks. It’s why I wanted to come to TrollMarket.”

“Magic is involved?” Aja said, looking up and tilting her head to the side. She looked like some kind of owl, blinking as she was. A wide grin broke out across her face. “Awesome sauce! That is the right exclamation, yes?”

“Yes, Aja,” Eli said with a sigh, closing his own book, “it is. If it’s as bad as you say, I think it might be a job for the Creepslayerz.”

“No,” Toby said flatly. “It’s time to call in the big guns.”

“Who are the big guns?” Krel said, finding a spot to lie down on the ground. “It can’t be the Trollhunter Jim. He’s still on his way to New Jersey.”

Toby didn’t answer him. Instead he scrolled through his contacts list until he found who he was looking for. It only rang twice before the phone was picked up.

“Hello?” his Nana said, her familiar voice calming the jittery feeling that had started to broil in his stomach.

“Hey, Nana,” he said. “Can you put Dictatous on?”

“Dicky? Sure, but why do you want to talk to him?”

“I’m going to need his expertise on some things.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Link for the YT Playlist. Do NOT skip any ads, no matter how long they are. Run it in the back ground while you do things, if you can. Mute the tab, not the videos.](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqws4vy_Bzkz_Jj-Er-NrGD6gn1D9E_yo)

**Author's Note:**

> :D


End file.
